The Arctic Incident
Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident is the second book in the Artemis Fowl series written by Irish author Eoin Colfer. There is the gnommish word for 'Fowl' on the cover. Plot Two years before Artemis Fowl stole a substantial amount of gold from The People, his father, Artemis Fowl the First, went missing after the ship he was on, the Fowl Star, exploded and was sunk by the Russian Mafia. Two members of the Russian Mafiya looked around for any remains of the Fowl Star and its contents when they found a survivor, Artemis Fowl the First, in terrible condition. His hands were undergoing frostbite, while a leg was snapped below the knee and his face was badly burnt. They identified him by looking at his wallet and grin to themselves before calling their boss. About an year later, thirteen-year-old Artemis Fowl Junior is sitting in a counselor's office in Saint Bartleby's School for Young Gentlemen, his mother worrying about his mental health. While the counselor got farther than the last half dozen that have tried to counsel Artemis, having seen that Artemis respects no one enough to see them as an equal, he is interrupted by a phone call from Butler to Artemis, calling about news of the Fowl Star. Meanwhile underground, Elf Captain Holly Short, after the Artemis Fowl incident, is sent to surveillance duty along with Sprite Chix Verbil, who spent part of the time trying to impress Holly. Chix is injured by B'wa Kell goblins with Softnose lasers, which were supposed to be outlawed and burnt by Foaly the centaur years ago. Holly, despite Commander Julis Root's orders to stay put, goes to rescue Chix and manages to defeat most of the goblins. She also discovers a shuttle manufactered by goblins that is greatly beyond their technology. Foaly reveals to her that the Softnose lasers are powered by 'Class A' electricity (batteries), meaning that the goblins are in league with a 'Mud Man' (aka human). Remembering the previous year's events, Holly quickly blames Artemis Fowl for the creation of the shuttle. She mesmerizes Butler and puts him and Artemis unconscious, taking them to Julis and Foaly; the latter reveals that Artemis is innocent, but Julius realises that Artemis could be useful in discovering the true culprit. In exchange for assisting the LEP, Artemis wishes for Holly and Julius to help him rescue his father from the greedy mafiya boss, Britva, in the Arctic Circle in Russia. Artemis, Holly, Julius and Foaly travel to Paris aboard a luxurious Atlantean shuttle where DI Luc Carree, the human mesmerized to give the B'wa Kell Class A batteries and materials for the shuttle, is hiding. The third-person narration switches back and forth constantly, allowing the reader to understand more of what is going on. Opal Koboi and Briar Cudgeon are revealed to be the masterminds of the smuggling operation, with the mesmerized Luc Carrère supplying the contraband. After Butler succeeds in taking out Carrère, with Artemis's side of the deal done, they proceed on to the rescue mission. Foaly manages to trace the spiked email to Mikhael Vassikin, an ex-KGB agent now working for the Mafia in Lenin Prospekt, Russia. Short, Root, Butler, and Artemis immediately begin the operation. The rescue group is then ambushed by a goblin hit squad, and the group shelters beneath an overhang. Butler realizes it was a trap, so he pushes Holly and Artemis out just before the overhang collapses. Butler is knocked unconscious, but Commander Root is okay. Then Holly tells Root to fire out a piton, so Holly can attach the piton to something to pull Butler and Root out. Then, Holly spies a train (which Artemis reveals to be a radioactive train) and they jump on it. They succeed in pulling Root and Butler out, but a crack in the tracks makes the train jerk. It causes Holly to lose a finger, which is later healed magically after an improvised Ritual involving a contraband acorn. Also mentioned is a statement from Artemis which Holly interpreted as sincerity, rare for Artemis, and another sign of his continual mental change throughout the series. At the same time, Briar Cudgeon ambushes and locks Foaly in the Operations Booth while the rescuers escape from the goblins. Foaly manages to use Artemis's laptop to send him a text message (in SMS language) telling him about the revolution going on underground. The revolution had started around the time Foaly had been trapped, leading the fairy Council to think that Foaly was behind the revolution. In Foaly's text message, information that had already been shown to the reader are again revealed, including that all weapons and communications are controlled by Opal Koboi. Artemis decides to take over Koboi Laboratories and return all weapons to the LEP, interrupting the rescue mission. Holly reveals that Foaly had a hunch that Mulch Diggums, the criminal and kleptomaniac dwarf that had been presumed dead after the Fowl Manor siege, was still alive and in Los Angeles. As he had broken into Koboi Laboratories before, they go to apprehend him once again. Mulch Diggums was indeed in Los Angeles. Using the money stolen from the Fowl Manor siege, he had bought a penthouse apartment in Beverly Hills. The book documents his theft of several Oscars before being apprehended in his apartment by the rescuers. They then break into Koboi Laboratories through a hollow titanium foundation rod. Artemis manages to turn both the goblins and Koboi against Cudgeon by playing messages pre-recorded by Foaly. Cudgeon is killed when he is thrown into the open DNA cannon plasma feed (activated seconds before by himself), which simultaneously blacks out Opal Koboi. The restored power activates DNA cannons in Police Plaza, neutralizing all goblins there. The rescuers then immediately head toward Murmansk to rescue Artemis Fowl I. Foaly is still trapped in the Operations Booth, as the LEP outside, commanded by Captain Trouble Kelp, still thinks he is to blame for the revolt.10 The rescuers then go to Murmansk to rescue Artemis Fowl I. It goes well, although Artemis Fowl I was dumped into the water, complicating things; he is successfully retrieved. The kidnappers are lured away with a flare attached to a briefcase supposedly containing the money. The money was mentioned to be fairy-counterfeit, high enough quality to fool all but the most professional examination--and designed to dissolve after seventy-two hours. Given oft-mentioned ruthlessness of the kidnappers' boss, it is likely they met their employer's wrath over the disappearing money. The story then ends there, with a dual epilogue. The first deals with the return of the Artemis Fowl II and Artemis Fowl I to Fowl Manor and Helsinki, respectively. Directly before, Artemis thanks Holly. Holly also takes a gold coin, shoots a hole in it, and lets Artemis catch it, as a thank you for the successful re-attachment of her trigger-finger, as well as to remind Artemis that "deep beneath the layers of deviousness, you have a spark of decency". The moment was described as "the first cool moment of Artemis' young life". The second epilogue has Artemis back in a counseling session with Dr. Po. This time, when asked whether he had "found anyone worthy of your respect", thinking of his father, Holly, and Butler, he answered yes, further showing his continual change from bad to good (a central theme of both the book and the entire series). Secret Message For an unknown reason, the publisher of the US edition of this book chose to remove this {C code. For the UK and other countries, each page had a set of symbols along the bottom. Using the guide on "www.artemisfowl.co.uk", this can be translated. From scratch, the code, written in Centaurian, can be deciphered because in the book there is a translation on Foaly's computer screen for the following poem: Fairy creatures, heed this warning, On Earth, the human era is dawning. So hide, fairy, lest you be found, And make a home beneath the ground. Eoin Colfer writes prior to this passage that it is an "illuminated Centaurian manuscript" from "The Scrolls of Capalla". The code is slightly easier to translate than Gnommish because many of the symbols look similar to their English counterparts. It can be read fluently once familiar, and is more like a recognizable font than a language. The final message is as follows: Congratulations Human. If you have cracked this code then you are more intelligent than most of your species. This is a message from the Fairy People. We are seeking out our allies among the Mud Men. Though most Humans are dullwitted creatures there are exceptions. You for example. The reason for your intelligence is that you have Fairy ancestors. Do you feel different from those around you? Are your ears a bit pointier than most? Is your tongue long enough to touch your nose? Do you dream of flying? Have you ever thought that you do not belong among the Mud Men? That is because you have Fairy blood in your veins. So young Mud Fairy I have a mission for you. As one of the People it is your duty to protect the Earth from those who would destroy it. You must become one of a new race of Mud men who love this planet as much as the Fairy Folk. There is one simple rule. Use only what you need and use it wisely. Do this and the Earth will survive. Go now and begin your quest. I shall repeat this message for those Humans whose Fairy intelligence is buried a bit deeper than yours. The same message is then repeated, up until "Do you feel different from those around you?" In the republication of the book, the Centaurian code is changed to the Gnommish cypher used in the first book. One of these Goblins is named Niall, after Eoin Colfer's brother. Through the book, this Goblin is mentioned several times, and each time it is spelt differently. First, the original Irish spelling, Niall, as Colfer's brother spells it, then Nyal, then Nyle. There is also a rewrite that features a different message at the beginning it is as follows. One of the strangest creatures on the earth (or more accurately below it) is the common stinkworm. Stinkworms can only survive below the earth's crust and so have never been seen by humans. The stinkworm can grow to a length of fifteen centimetres and a diameter of up to eight centimetres. The bigger a stinkworm is the more meat there is on its soft boned skeleton and the more valuable it is to a merchant. Stinkworms are big business in the fairy world and have been for thousands of years. They are very versatile creatures and can be boiled, fried, baked or even eaten raw - though this sushi approach can be difficult to swallow as the stink associated with the worms does not disappear until they are cooked. The current favourite way to eat the stinkworm is in a dish similar to bolognese, substituting stinkworms for spaghetti. Deep fried on a skewer is popular among the younger generation. What makes the stinkworm so delicious is its juices. When the worm is heated in a pan or oven it bastes itself in a delicious spicy juice which even the best chefs have failed to reproduce. This juice is in fact earwax from the hundreds of ears that cover each worm's body. Some more sensitive fairies cannot forget that they are eating earwax and do not enjoy eating stinkworms, but most are so entranced by the flavour that they are quite prepared to ignore where it comes from. Goblins in particular love stinkworms and are constantly inventing new ways to consume them. The rarest and most prized stinkworm dish is a stir fried bowl of stinkworm ears. The ears are shaved from the worm's body, rolled in flour and then lightly fried. This dish takes hours to prepare and costs a fortune. Goblins believe that if you eat a bowl of worm ears then you absorb the worm's memories of the places they have visited. This is not an appealing thought when you consider that a stinkworm's favourite environment is fresh troll dung. Category:Artemis Fowl Series Category:Book Category:Book Category:Fiction